Do you sense the hope just over the horizon, too, friend?
I held my head in my hands, the non-physical pain consuming me, twisting my body to reflect my inner state. The mother placed the baby in my arms and spoke of WHEN I would take her home and envelop her in our family. This baby was the gift that came no less miraculously than a child that emerges, astonishingly, from one’s own womb.
I looked for a regular Christmas picture of our family (so I could prove to you all how proper we are and suitably impressive in demeanour), but all I could find were these photos.
Our kids are SO wiggly and annoying that they wouldn’t stand still long enough to get a proper photo!
Yes, that’s me on the right. (Why do you ask?) Well, I guess this one below will have to do.
Merry Christmas!
Oh – and just a little bit of advice – I know that’s why you read this stuff, after all!
Ahem . . .
If you are tempted to turn to the Christmas booze or whatever your vice* of choice is today, remember – try God instead!
Then you can have the enviable advantage over others** of being perceived as (relatively) “regular” like us!
**The point of life is to look normal! (Isn’t it? It’s too bad my editor has the day off, or she could fix this.) “What is the point of life?” I wonder. Well, I’ll tell you the answer next time, friends! In the meantime, I wonder if I should get some booze for this growing existential angst I’m feeling today or … wait – I’ll ask God!
But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, And don’t take yourself too seriously— take God seriously.
Jesus is standing outside your door RIGHT NOW! He stands in the rain or the falling snow, depending on the weather where you live. He’s holding your Christmas present.
It was dark. I grasped the floor, trying to find some unseen object. I couldn’t remember what I was looking for, but I knew it was on the floor, not far away.
If I could only pick it up!
“Where are you?” I cried, tears streaming down my face. Then I brushed up against something, the finger of God. I tried to grasp it but went in the wrong direction by mistake and lost my sense of where it was again.
But now my heart was beating with hope.
The tears stopped flowing, just a riverbed of dry tears streaming down my face, now.
“Where are you, God?” I called out. Hope filled my heart.
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Even for the most hardened of hearts, a brush with hope in an unopened present makes the soil of our hearts ready for the seed.
And what happens when we open the box and find nothing inside? We turn it over and examine it from another angle. Did we miss something? We take the box apart before finally setting it aside.
Disappointment.
Even for the happiest house with the most joyous children and (reasonably) healthy relationships, the best we can hope for on earth, this unrest arrives.
In the quiet, when the kids have disappeared upstairs to play, when the guests are quietly conversing, the emptiness arrives.
It appears as an ache, a heaviness that weighs us down a little. We mindlessly pick up the wrapping papers strewn around the room, our thoughts following us.
And then after we’ve had our fill of chocolate, and coffee, and cinnamon buns, and laughter, the sadness reawakens, the one that was slumbering within.
And so we pick up our sadness, gently. We scoop it up with our hands and lift our hands to God.
And this is our present, cherished as a pile of diamonds, that we offer our Father.
Come, come, child. Come away with me, He beckons our heart.
We follow Him, the tears not yet erupted from the geyser within as we smile at the others and follow Him to a lonely place.
And in that place, perhaps the quiet of a room downstairs, by ourselves, He holds us as we cry. He dances with us as we celebrate. He comforts us as we plead with Him for His kingdom to come over some area of brokenness in our lives or our loved one’s lives.
And when the tears have been shed, and the comfort received, we return to them, to the family and friends.
And our gift has been opened, the one we were waiting for, the one that fills our hearts.
The gift of Him.
Merry Christmas, He says to you.
Did you open your gift this Christmas?
Jesus, teach us to pour out our heart as a gift to You.
As you listen to this song, consider talking to Holy Spirit, like talking to a friend over coffee. What do you most long to ask Jesus?
Ask Him.
And wait in the quiet stillness for a bit.
And may Your life be touched by a glimmer of the divine, which is a gift that when opened, contains everything you’ve been longing for.
BEFORE YOU SLAM THIS POST CLOSED IN DISGUST… remember that I promised this post was based on peer-reviewed philosophy, which will be clarified in a moment.
These are my examples (admittedly not perfect) of four principles to becoming happy that have been recognized by philosophy!
The 4 Levels of Happiness, undiluted by my own examples and as proposed by Aristotle and later by modern philosophers, are the following:
Happiness Level 1- Happiness found in simple material pleasures. For example, eating a crisp apple while standing right next to the tree we picked it from.
Happiness Level 2 – Happiness found in delayed satisfaction. For example, setting aside other priorities to do the work of training for a race, and the happiness found in completing or wining the race.
Happiness Level 3 – Happiness found in serving others. For example the unexpected joy we feel when we help those less fortunate than us.
(Now, we better not talk about Happiness Level 4 because in order to be sophisticated moderns, we should never talk about spiritual needs. Here goes anyway.) Happiness Level 4 – Happiness found in the pursuit of, or an experience of God. Don’t shoot me! I’m just a messenger!
So now, if we compare my examples to the unfiltered levels of happiness proposed by real philosophers, you can see where I’m coming from.
Happiness Level 1 – Eating chocolate is obviously the ultimate fulfillment of material pleasures. (I’m sure you can think of others).
Happiness Level 2 – Now that I review the Levels of Happiness more thoroughly, I can see that the object of Happiness Level 2 is not entirely ego domination. But I was on the right track in the sense of receiving happiness from completing a race or something. Close enough.
Happiness Level 3 – To expound on my example of Happiness Level 3, put food in the food hamper VERY slowly so people notice. In my case, I tend to do it quickly and run away because I am putting in items that have almost expired. But in your case, if the food hasn’t expired, relish in the fact that you’re helping someone else! Let them exalt you! Wait -As I’m refreshing myself on the general principle of Happiness Level 3, I can see now that the point is actually serving people not having others SEE you serve people. Whatever. I guess we learn new things all the time, even as we’re writing blog posts!
Happiness Level 4 – The last level of happiness, of course, is found in hanging out with losers. I was right about that one. As mentioned here, people who call themselves Christians are losers! (People who don’t call themselves Christians are also losers, but they are too spiritually blind to see that at the moment.)
And of course, by seeking God I’m not talking about swallowing everything thrown at you at church hook, line, and sinker. (Yes, I realize these are mixed metaphors, but who has time to edit their writing these days?)
Ahem . . .
So don’t leave your brain at the door when you walk into a church. Rebuke them sometimes. That’s what you’re there for.
But we also pray that the scales will fall off your eyes and ears so that you can see and hear the real God who is speaking even though he is surrounded by so many weird-os that sometimes it’s hard to get in close enough to get his autograph or to touch the hem of his cloak, or whatever you’re hoping will fill your bucket of need as you draw closer to God.
He will turn everything in your life upside down if you get close enough to touch him. That is his way.
For example, God even talks about happiness coming from suffering.
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.
Joy from problems seems a little crazy if you think about it.
Don’t think about it too much.
Just hold His hand and the hands of the other losers who love being near Him, and may you rise a little higher up the Levels of Happiness (maybe even to a Level 3 or Level 4?) this season.
Someone (who?) once said that a picture is worth 1,000 words. But what do they know? We think the funny things we say to each other are worth thousands of words.
So here you go. Funny things our family said last year in the categories of love, homeschooling, confidence, random thoughts, and flatulence.
On Love
Andy to me: “You look pretty.”
Me: Thinking, “After 22 years of marriage I don’t get that compliment every day!”
“Why” I ask him aloud, thinking, “Is it my hair? I just went swimming. My new exercise outfit?”
Me . . . persistent . . . “Why?”
Andy: “I think it’s because you told me to lie down and rest instead of help clean up after supper.”
Me: (!) (!!) (!!!)
Andy to me: “If we didn’t have a dog, where would you put all your affection?
Would you hug and squeeze us to death?”
Me… “Whaaa???”
– 5 minutes later –
Me: “I squeeze you. I squeeze you.” Kiss, kiss to Siri, our dog. Then wait! I remember…
Kyah: “Good morning! I missed you all night long!”
On Homeschooling
Usual unusual homeschooling moments
There was a homeschooling event a two-hours drive away.
Kyah called her friend’s mom: “Hi. Can you please drive me to the homeschooling event because my mom doesn’t want to because it’s too far and she doesn’t feel like it. So is it OK if you drive me instead?”
First-world homeschooling problem.
Esther: “Ah! I’m going to be late for class!”
– A few seconds later –
Esther: “Ah! I forgot to re-curl my hair after our walk! I’m going to be very late for class!!!”
Kyah, one Wednesday morning after math class: “Hi Mom! I decided what two new languages I want to learn, besides Spanish!” (Braille and sign language)
On Confidence
Andy to me: “You’ll be awesome!”
“Wait, is that snot on your face?”
Me: “How was church today?”
Andy: “I had a big hunk of peanut butter on my face from breakfast the whole time I was at church today. I went and spoke at the front and everything!”
Me: “Oh bummer! How did you know that?”
Andy: “Kyah told me in the car on the way home from church.”
Esther after doing hours of scholarship applications: “I never thought I would get tired of thinking about how amazing I am. I never want to talk about how amazing I am ever again!”
Random Thoughts
The words in brackets below are what I imagine the owners of the store to say in response to the questions on their street signs.
(Toilets inside)
(Cold showers inside)
Flatulence
I wish I was mature enough to leave out the fart jokes, but alas . . .
Person to remain unnamed: “Watch out for my silent laugh.
It’s usually a sign that I’m going to fart.”
I was using the microphone function to draft a text. Andy said to one of the girls “Who farted? Was it you?”
Those exact words were transcribed into the text to my friend.
Finally, the big news, if you haven’t heard is that Esther grew up and moved out to attend University (We’re very proud of her!). We got both a super cute bunny to play with . . .
and a large houseplant to sit in her old homeschooling area to replace her.
(To find out how I’m actually adjusting to this life transition, check out this post, or this one, or this one).
Restoring Life 